Agile Coaching

Methods, tools and practices for constructing, sharing and facilitating teamwork.

The processes, practices and methods that a project uses to transform ideas into products (analog or digital) require a high level of cooperation between people with different skills, knowhow, languages and cultures.

Making interaction between people efficient, fluid and enjoyable is our aim.

To achieve this aim we provide methods, tools and practices for team-building, facilitating group work, managing process complexity, programming plausible release times with budgets and resources, linking activities and above all developing projects by improving quality and performance.

We offer consultancy, training and assistance for building teams that can work with shared methods, tools and practices.

The activation of a design-thinking approach guides and accompanies design processes from the initial concept to implementation and onto successive and continuous improvements during development. Sector research, end user involvement, concepts, master plans, final designs, prototypes, testing, development and constant cost checks are all used when required and without any rigid sequence.

Our actions are calibrated to meet customers’ needs and goals, and they range from coaching to facilitation, to Agile method courses, the supply of Scrum Masters for group management and all the way through to team building in which we help achieve clearly defined goals by encouraging people to find their strengths and operate by interacting and cooperating with others at a practical level.

Here are some examples of the ways we can help our customers build efficient, independent teams that can master their products by enhancing and shaping insourcing and outsourcing to the highest level.

Story Mapping

This is a collective activity guided by a facilitator, that everyone involved in implementing the project takes part in. During story mapping, the specifications the end product must have are analysed, discussed and described and the way users will interact with it are identified. The actions for implementing the product are also established and times are planned in compliance with resources, tools and budgets.

• In a storymapping workshop day, Zanichelli editors and project managers joined with Chialab developers and designers to plan the creation of a history of art web platform called the Museo di Itinerario nell’arte (Art Trail Museum).

User-centered design

Different tools (personas, prototypes and tests...) but a single aim: to involve users and put them at the centre of the process for constructing accessible, functional products. This is a strategic and transversal approach that identifies, describes and welcomes the end user of the design and development process. 

• Together with Erickson product and service professionals and users, we worked to construct shorter paths between the needs of personas and contents by creating a website tailored to meet their requirements.

Agile / Scrum methods

To create tested, high-quality products, it is important to adopt an iterative approach with shared aims that encompasses the entire production chain, from concept to implementation.

We teach agile principles that adapt to customers’ work situations, in order to increase transparency and sharing between teams, organisations and customers.

• DARE is an innovative process including 12 operating partners (private companies, public administration, organisations and institutions) that interact via a team in a single process focused on regenerating the Darsena di Ravenna. In this project we act as a guide and reference point for the adoption of Agile practices that support work teams.

Coaching

Working as a team does not just mean sharing aims, but sharing languages, skills and sensations as well. It is important to learn to grow as a collective and understand quickly when something does not work, without putting the blame on individuals.

We help improve work team performance. We assist the team in its day-to-day work and we help people to find their strengths and operate by interacting and cooperating.

• We supply and form work teams for customers like Zanichelli, Pearson, the Municipality of Bologna and other large and small enterprises that during a project are assisted and stimulated to create top quality, constantly improved products in a short space of time.

We have solved a lot of problems and we have learnt more from our mistakes than our successes. We believe that practice is better than theory.

We use our methods with customers, such as:

• Zanichelli
• Pearson
• Erickson
• Cineca
• Municipality of Ravenna
• Municipality of Bologna

Coach and facilitator

Manuel Zanettin
Scrum Alliance | Certified Scrum Master
Scrum.org | Professional Scrum Master I

to find out more, contact us.